Is water a friend or foe in organometallic chemistry? The case of Group 13 organometallic compounds

This Account summarizes the recent developments in the hydrolysis chemistry of Group 13 trialkyl and triaryl compounds. Emphasis has been placed on the results obtained by us on (a) H-1 NMR investigations of controlled hydrolyses of AlMes(3) and GaMes(3), (b) low-temperature isolation of water adducts of triaryl compounds of aluminum and gallium, (c) synthesis and structural characterization of new polyhedral alumoxanes and galloxanes, and (d) the search for an easy way to synthesize well-defined crystalline methylalumoxanes by deprotonation of the hydroxides with alkyllithium reagents. The systematic studies on the hydrolysis of tBu(3)-Al carried out by Barren et al. are also discussed in order to elucidate the roles of (i) reaction temperature, (ii) solvent medium, and (iii) source of water molecules, in building up hitherto unknown alumoxane clusters. The role of water impurity in organometallic reactions involving a Group 13 alkyl and other ligands (such as silanetriols and phosphorus acids) to build molecular clusters has also been discussed.